Fluorination Triggers Fluoroalkylation: Nucleophilic Perfluoro-tert-butylation with 1,1-Dibromo-2,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)ethylene (DBBF) and CsF

Perfluoro-tert-butylation reaction has long remained a challenging task. We now report the use of 1,1-dibromo-2,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)ethylene (DBBF) as a practical reagent for perfluoro-tert-butylation reactions for the first time. Through a consecutive triple-fluorination process with DBBF and CsF, the (CF3)(3)C- species can be liberated and observed, which is able to serve as a robust nucleophilic perfluoro-tert-butylating agent for various electrophiles. The power of this synthetic protocol is evidenced by the efficient synthesis of structurally diverse perfluoro-tert-butylated molecules. Multiple applications demonstrate the practicability of this method, as well as the superiority of perfluoro-tert-butylated compounds as sensitive probes. The perfluoro-tert-butylated product was successfully applied in H-1- and F-19-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiment with an ultra-low field (ULF) MRI system.